Nicolle Wallace reports Minneapolis protest as crowds defy harsh weather: 'Act of historic bravery'
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: MSNow’s Nicole Wallace highlighted the massive Minneapolis protest on 'Deadline White House' as tens of thousands of residents flooded the streets to challenge a sweeping surge of ICE and Department of Homeland Security agents in their city.
Braving subzero temperatures, demonstrators rallied against what they described as President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, staging an economic blackout that urged people to skip work, stay out of school and refrain from shopping to amplify their message.
Nicole Wallace describes Minneapolis protest streets as a 'ghost town'
Nicole Wallace opened the breaking news segment by noting, "One year and three days into Donald Trump's second inauguration, he is receiving his low approval ratings from the American pubic on every single solitary issue that once provided him a political edge."
She then turned to the unfolding events in Minneapolis, describing them as "a tragic reality and an act of historic bravery."
Wallace showed footage of residents swarming the streets of Minneapolis in a wind chill of minus 20 degrees. She highlighted the citywide strike, urging "no work, no school, no dining," aimed at protesting the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
"Parts of the city seem like a ghost town Friday morning(January 23)," she added, as she read aloud the signs and quotes carried by protesters during the demonstration.
Wallace went on to say that the Minneapolis protest intensified after the “detention of a five-year-old boy named Liam Ramos.” She added, “Liam’s school officials say that federal agents used Liam as quote bait. Getting fiver year old Liam Ramos to knock on the front door of his own house so that ICE could go inside and arrest other people in his home.”
She then played the video of Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino blaming the Ramos family for the incident. Wallace continued, “Incidents like these and images like these of a five-year-old Liam Ramos with a bunny hat on and an oversized Spider Man backpack separated from his family. It's feeling a wake up call, a backlash to ICE and the Trump Administration's brutal tactics. It is not just in Minneapolis, it's happening all around the country."
Liam Conejo Ramos, 5, and his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, are now being held at the Dilley detention center in Texas, a long‑term family facility used by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to agency records and government officials.
Both father and son have immigration court cases listed as “pending,” with no finalized deportation orders, indicating that an immigration judge still must review their claims.
300 businesses shut down to demand ICE leave Minnesota
Hundreds of businesses across the Twin Cities closed Friday, January 23 to protest the surge of federal immigration agents in Minnesota as thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of downtown Minneapolis in solidarity with the economic blackout.
Community members urged residents to skip work, stay out of school and refrain from shopping, calling the action a “Day of Truth and Freedom.”
Starting Friday at 2 pm, a group marched from The Commons in downtown Minneapolis toward the Target Center, where a rally was scheduled inside the arena. An estimated 300 businesses shut down for the day to send a message demanding that ICE leave the state.
Some establishments chose a different approach: they opened their doors not for business, but to support the community.
“We figured, you know, we open the doors and serve free food to the community today. Closing is one thing, but we wanted to make an impact, and we figured what better way to do that than to give people a warm bowl of soup,” said Yoom Nguyen, who runs The Lotus in Minneapolis.
Nguyen explained that offering food and warmth felt more meaningful than simply keeping the restaurant closed. “This is not about money for us,” Nguyen said. “We've been here since 1984. This community embraced our family when we were going through tough times, and (we) feel it's our turn to return that favor, bring some hope and some joy and some warmth to people."
